Healthy Men Live Longer With Prostate Cancer Treatment

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have found that older men, who are otherwise healthy, benefit from aggressive treatment for unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, a finding that draws contrasts with a recent US Preventive Task Force recommendation stating that older men should not be screened for prostate cancer. These findings are published online and in an upcoming print issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology Physics.

"When the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against PSA screening for any man over 75 years old, it gave some people the impression that it isn't worthwhile to either find or treat prostate cancer in older men. However, our study found that if an older man is diagnosed with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, aggressive treatment can improve his chances of surviving, just as it does for younger men, provided that he is otherwise relatively healthy, said Paul L. Nguyen, MD, a radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center.

"This tells us that it's not just age alone, but also overall health status that must be considered when deciding whether or not to aggressively treat men with prostate cancer,"

The original trial had shown that patients who were randomized to a combination of radiation and hormones lived longer than those randomized to radiation alone. In this reanalysis, researchers focused on the subgroup of 78 men who were older than the median age of 72.4 yrs and found that those over the median age also obtained a significant survival benefit with more aggressive treatment as long as they were otherwise healthy, or had little to no other health issues (comorbidities), aside from their prostate cancer.

They also found that older men who had some or many additional health issues, did not benefit from the more aggressive treatment.

"As clinicians, we must not use strict age cutoffs when deciding which patients should be treated aggressively. We must evaluate the entire patient including his age, additional health issues and longevity," said Nguyen.